County website still ‘under construction’ amid tech transition

Though the McDonough County website is active, the current flux of information technology support within the county has left the site “under construction” temporarily.

After the resignation of the county’s former IT administrator Jake Holmes, who also served the city of Macomb, the county began looking for a replacement, interviewing three candidates before the Macomb City Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 13, according to the McDonough County Board.

After the meeting, the county has returned to step one on making a decision as to who will provide IT support for the county while the city makes a decision of its own.

According to The Voice archives, county board member Alice Henry saw their partnership with the city as “an experiment that worked out very well.” However, the city of Macomb will continue to consider a third-party for IT support, canceling the joint funding arrangement previously held with the county.

“We have to look at everything,” said Beth Crossett, county board office administrator. “We’re going to have to sit down and go over all of our options at this point, all of our budgeting and all of our plans.”

Macomb is currently serviced by TimbukTech Network Design and Support in the absence of Holmes.

City Administrator Dean Torreson said that the cost of retaining the arrangement with the county would be only $9,000 less than staying with the TimbukTech contract that most board members agreed would be more effective in tackling the large scale network issues of the city.

However, the change in arrangements leaves the county with some options. Macomb Mayor Mike Inman said that a partnership with the county involving third-party IT support is not out of the question.

“The contract with our interim provider TimbukTech runs through the first week of May and there is a 60 day cancellation notice,” Inman said. “So we feel that we’ve got some time to look at developing requests for proposals that might be interested in providing that service… Our plan would also be to have some discussions with the county to see if they would like to partner in one way or the other.”

“That’s not necessarily a direct connection with the county,” he added. “But if somebody came in to make a proposal that would provide services for both the city and the county then that would be something we would consider.”

Currently the county is working with Computer Masters International Inc., the same company that installed the county’s wiring system previously and with whom the county is familiar, Crossett said.

Regarding the website, however, further development will have to wait until an IT professional can assist the county, she said. Currently employees do not have access to the site outside of updates to meeting times and dates.

However, Crossett added that the website will continue to be developed as the situation is resolved. The site, which can be accessed at http://mcg.mcdonough.il.us contains information regarding meetings, contact information, and information about county departments.

The site, developed by Holmes who had created a website for the city as well, has been in development for well more than a year.

Communities

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The McDonough County Voice ~ 26 W. Side Square, Macomb, IL 61455 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service